Petting Zoo
by Goobzoop
Summary: Aaron and Spencer take Jack to the petting zoo, and Spencer has a thing or two to say about the germs festering on the cute little animals. Using a prompt; Going to a petting zoo. Person 1 loves the animals, Person 2 is scared to pet the animals… From otp-fanfic-ideas on tumblr


"Daddy! Papa! Wake up! Wake up, wake up, wake up!" A little ball of unbridled energy zip-zapped all over the bed, jumping and hopping and smushing unsuspecting limbs.

"Jack!" Aaron barked out, gruff, and not in the mood. "Go back to bed."

"But Dad, we're going to the ZOO!" Jack pounced on his father, wrapping his little arms around the sleeping man's neck. "Yay!"

Spencer sat up beside the two, rubbing his eyes and yawning. He combed back his bedhead and grinned happily at Jack. "Zoo day!"

"YAYAY! Papa! Zoo day!" Jack bounced up and tackled Spencer in a hug. He fell backwards into the blankets and squeezed the little boy senseless.

"Go to bed, you two. It's only 6. The zoo doesn't even open till 9." Aaron shooed them with his hand.

Spencer whispered in Jacks ear, and he shot up out of bed, racing down the hall. The sight of the little monster in his dinosaur footie pajamas made Spencer's heart melt; he was always thankful for mornings like this one at home with his family. (Instead of waking up alone in a hotel room thinking about dead people)

"Paaaaaannnnncaaakkkeeessss!" came a shout down the hall, along with the metallic clatter of utensils falling to the floor.

"I hope you know you're the one cleaning that up." Aaron groaned into the pillow.

"Pfft. Just go to sleep, cranky pants." The genius planted a kiss on his forehead and rolled out of bed.

Jack had somehow already managed to get more than a handful of flour in his hair by the time his Papa got into the kitchen. This resulted in getting chased around the kitchen island until he was picked up and his hair thoroughly shook out while he tried to get some breathing done in between giggles.

The pair mixed together all the wet and dry ingredients for the pancakes, jack cracked the eggs without leaving any shells this time, and they poured the mix on the frying pan. Jack sat on the counter next to Spencer and watched the cakes cook.

"Flip 'em!" Jack shouted.

"Not yet, Jacks. When they're ready to be flipped, you'll see little bubbles."

"I don't see any bubbles." Jack pouted.

"That's 'cause they're not done cooking yet!" Spencer grinned and booped him on the nose. Jack winced and giggled.

"Is it 9 yet? I can't wait to go the the zooooo." The boy grinned, swaying from side to side.

"Not quite. But maybe after we finish breakfast and get dressed it will be."

"I wanna see the monkeys!"

"What else?" Spencer egged him on while washing the dishes from their mess and putting them away in the cabinets.

"Giraffes. And bears! And zebras!" He smiled. "Wait— they're bubbling! Hurry! FLIP!"

Spencer flipped the pancakes over, and laughed. He loved having a child. Never in his wildest dreams had he ever thought a morning like this could be a possibility, and here he was living it. And really, really loving it.

They finished making breakfast and sat down together at the table, Jack still prattling on about zoo animals, giving Spencer a run for his money as far as one-sided and unnecessarily detailed conversations went.

"—And I can't wait to pet the koalas. And the lions. Papa, what does a lion's fur feel like?"

"Hmm. Well, a lion has a pretty rough coat. It wouldn't feel so good to touch. Not like Aunt Penny's cat Tippy, which is soft and fluffy. A lion has coarse and oily fur and it would leave dark back oil on your fingers if you scratch them like you do with Tippy." Spencer took a bite of his chocolate chip pancake. "But, Jacks, you can't touch the animals at the zoo. They're in enclosures."

"In en-closures?" Jack's face fell.

"Yeah. Like little houses, sort of, but outside. A lot of animals don't like people getting too close cause they're scared. Plus, some animals are scary to us. I wouldn't want to pet a lion!" Spencer laughed.

"But Dad said I can touch them."

"I know for a fact you can't pet the lions. Sorry, Jacks."

"S'okay. I still get to see the monkeys, right?"

"Yeah, you can see the monkeys."

They finished up breakfast, and Spencer put on a pot of coffee for himself and his husband who was yet to get out bed. He shooed Jack off to his room to get dressed, and found Aaron smiling at him groggily as he came into the bedroom.

"Hey, love." Aaron cooed.

"Sounds like someone is feeling better." Spencer smirked, and sat on the edge of the bed next to him.

"Mm. I needed that extra hour." Aaron yawned. "Sorry I was short with you earlier."

Spencer leaned down and pressed his lips against his lover's, deepening the kiss passionately but quickly. "You're lucky that you're so devilishly handsome, or how else would I put up with that snarky attitude and morning breath?" Spencer smirked and jumped up before Aaron could tackle him in a hug and smother him with teasing aggression.

"Yeah, you better run!" Aaron laughed, getting up from bed slowly.

The three of them packed up their lunches and triple checked that they had everything before piling into the car and setting off. The zoo was an hour away, and luckily Jack was engrossed in his gameboy long enough for Aaron and Spencer to get some adult conversation in.

Spencer rattled on about his current paper, and the research that was happening in Switzerland by a team of chemists and physicists trying to bridge the gap between nanoparticles and the classical mechanics of the potential square barrier. Aaron tried to follow along as best as he could, but it was far from his own specialty of law, and Spencer was careful to break it down into simple and broad terms. Aaron always appreciated when Spencer wanted to share what he was passionate about with him, and even more grateful that Spencer was never condescending when explaining the niche concepts to him; Spencer was intelligent enough to know the difference between lack of intellect, and lack of exposure.

Eventually, they rolled up a long winding road and Jack shoved his gameboy back into his backpack replacing it with pressing his nose up against the window in fascination. Spencer wasn't close behind, peering out at the sign they were pulling up to.

"Petting Zoo?" Spencer looked over at Aaron in the driver's seat. "What's this? You didn't tell me this was a petting zoo."

"Didn't I mention it? I told Jack. Must have slipped my mind." He shrugged, and parked the car.

"Yeah, you must have." Spencer glared at him.

Aaron didn't seem to notice his husband's disdain, and shepherded Jack out of the car. The booth attendant handed them three tickets and opened the gate for them to enter the park. Spencer grabbed Jack's hand before he you take off running into he crowd.

"This is gross." Spencer complained, looking around at the animals in close proximity.

"Oh, please, Mr. Grinch. Look at your son's delighted face. It's fun. Have some fun. What's your beef with petting zoos?"

Spencer whipped his head around to face Aaron with a look that could have killed. "What's my beef? How about the exorbitant amount of germs swarming around this place?! The animals belong in enclosures, Aaron! Far, far away where they can't get me with their ticks, and and their parasites, and their lice!" He shuddered.

"It's not that bad. There's hand sanitizer everywhere…" Aaron knew he was in a losing battle. His troops were already taking out their maps looking for the fastest route of escape.

"—And the 1,1415 pathogens spread by animals known to infect humans, and ticks, and excrement everywhere! Opportunistic pathogens! And lack of vaccinated animals and and and—!" Spencer whined.

"Papa, do animals really give you patch-o-gems? Can I still pet the pigs?" Jack looked at him with a wounded expression.

Spencer dropped down to Jack's level. "Of course you can, buddy. Yes, sometimes animals can give you pathogens, but you're fine. There's nothing to worry about. There's ...hand sanitizer… you just focus on finding where the piggies are, Jacks."

"Hand sanitizer, eh?" Aaron smirked.

"Oh fork off." Spencer tried to hide his smile.

Jack eventually wriggled our of Spencer's grip and leap around excitedly, flashing from exhibit to exhibit with a smile the size of Texas. Aaron helped him to reach out and pet the sheep, llamas, and donkeys. Spencer made him wash his grimy little hands after each, and nearly screamed a few times when it looked like the boy was going to stick his fingers in his mouth. He hung back on the sidelines while his husband and son laughed and petted fluffy rabbits. Jack waved around handfuls of hay in front of the little creatures and squealed when they grabbed pieces and began chewing on it rhythmically.

"Oh, Spencer, come on, have some fun with us." Aaron smiled sympathetically at his lover who was still standing a good ten feet from the small wooden fence that separated them from the ponies.

"Please, Aaron, I can have fun from here, just let me be." Spencer eyed the pony licking Jack's palm.

"Just a pet. C'mon, what's going to happen?"

"What's going to happen? Is that really a question you want to ask right now? Because you know I have a thing or two I could say."

"I'm sure there's a lot of possibilities but what about making some memories with your son, hm?" Aaron wiggled his eyebrows playfully.

"Aaron Hotchner, you are going to be the death of me." Spencer grumbled and trudged over to his son.

"Come here, buddy." Spencer picked up the boy and placed him so his feet were on the bottom rung of the fence and he could reach the pony's snout to pet. Spencer stood behind him holding him lightly so he didn't fall backwards.

Aaron grinned beside him. "I love you, Spence."

"Wish I could say the same right now." Spencer huffed, a quirky smile playing on his lips. Aaron rolled his eyes.

"Papa look! He likes me!" Jack wiggled around with energy as the pony nuzzled against his hand.

"He sure does, Jacks."

"You pet him too, Papa." Jack demanded.

"Jack, I think he just wants you to pet him. He likes kids."

"Nu-uh! He told me! Pet him, Papa!" Jack demanded with a determined face, set on sharing his happiness.

Spencer reached out to the pony. He was grimacing and his eyes shut tightly, his brow creased. "nueehhhh" Spencer whined like a child as he stroked the course hair between the pony's eyes.

Aaron came up and laced his arm around Spencer's waist, giving him a reassuring squeeze.

"I'm going to need a thousand showers. And a bleach wipe." Spencer squeaked out.

"We can do that." Aaron smirked. He placed a quick kiss on his ear, his breath sending chills down Spencer's spine.

"Hey!" Spencer huffed. "I'm serious! Do you know how many germs were probably just transmitted to me? Have you ever heard of Zoonosis, Aaron? Animals as cute and "harmless" as this one are deceiving little vectors for bacteria, viruses, and parasites. That's how Ebola was spread, ok? And Salmonellosis. The flu. Rabies. Angiostrongyliasis. Babesiosis. Bird flu. Cat-scratch disease. Leprosy. Toxoplasmosis. West Nile Fever. Zika. Do you know how to cure Leprosy, Aaron?"

Aaron laughed half heartedly. He knew he wouldn't be able to argue with his young genius, and frankly, he didn't have any ground to stand on. And if he didn't feel comfortable touching all the animals, it was his choice.

"No, I most certainly do not."

"Didn't think so! This pony may be adorable but what if he gives me Henipavirus? It's killed 164 humans since 1994 and some as recent as 2018. That could be me, Aaron. With my luck, it would be, anyway."

"Okay, okay. C'mere, love." Aaron helped hoist Jack off the fence and rubbed Spencer's in hand sanitizer.

"Y'know this doesn't kill all types of germs actually; it only reduces the amount. Hand washing is more effective."

Aaron laughed, pulled Spencer over to the hand washing station, lathered them up, and scrubbed them squeaky clean until his lover was smiling with a dopey grin.

"What?" Aaron laughed.

"Oh, nothing. I just like when you mother-hen me. And I like your hands. And I surprisingly like you washing my hands. It felt really calming and nice. Hand massages are a thing."

"I'll give you a hand massage later." Aaron whispered near his ear.

Spencer blushed and smiled wide. "Yeah, you had better after you took me to this abomination instead of the Virginia Zoo."

"I wanna go to the Virginia Zoo!" Jack jumped up and down beside the men.

Aaron rolled his eyes and Spencer smiled. "We'll go there too, one day, buddy."

Spencer bent down and picked Jack up. "Come on, we still have the monkeys to see."

Jack hugged his arms around his Papas neck, and let him carry him around the sunny park. "Yay, monkeys!"

Aaron intertwined his fingers with Spencers and gave him a peck on the cheek as Spencer rattled off a list of all the different species of monkeys and where they lived to the little boy. The petting zoo wasn't that bad when he was surrounded by people he loved.

end


End file.
